SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif. — In-person voting began Monday at the San Diego Registrar of Voters as the first round of ballots for the November election arrived in mailboxes across the county. For the first time, all 1.9 million voters in the county and throughout California will receive a ballot and “I Voted" sticker in the mail under an executive order signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
“This is going to be an interesting election. There's always something unique about every election I've ever conducted,” said Michael Vu, San Diego County Registrar of Voters.
In March, nearly 75% of ballots cast in San Diego County were submitted by mail. The registrar has added equipment and capacity to help cope with the increased demand.
Voters can return ballots using the postage-paid return envelope or by submitting it at one of the county’s 126 drop-off locations that will operate for 29 days. By comparison, the county had just 62 drop-off sites for the seven days preceding the March primary.
In-person voting is available at the Registrar of Voters through Election Day. The county has consolidated the 1,548 polling places used in March into 235 locations. These “super polling sites” will open for in-person voting from Oct. 31 through Nov. 3. Voters must use their assigned site if they wish to cast a ballot in-person.
Voters are asked to come prepared to vote to avoid delays. This year’s ballot has only 37 questions while ballots for the November elections in 2016 and 2018 each had 52.
“We're asking for voters to act early through the 29-day period that we are open here at the Registrar of Voters office. Also, consider voting [using] that mail ballot because it could create long lines,” said Vu.
All ballots are tracked, and the registrar will only count the first ballot received if a voter tries to vote by mail and in-person.
Although the registrar is used to mail-in voting, it may take longer to receive results.
Ballots submitted prior to Election Day are the first to be counted. The registrar expects to release its first results about 15 minutes after the polls close at 8 p.m. It will continue to release results every 30-90 minutes until all precincts have reported.
The registrar will then update the unofficial results daily until Nov. 13, or 10 days after the election.
The legislature requires the registrar to accept ballots that arrive as late as Nov. 20, or 17 days after the election, if they are postmarked on or before Nov. 3. Previously, the registrar only had to accept ballots that arrived three days after the election.
The registrar must then certify the results of the election on or before Dec. 3.
In anticipation of early voting, election officials across California sought to reassure voters about the security of the election and noted there is no evidence of widespread fraud through mail-in voting.
“It's a shame. Every election, state and local elections officials work hard to make sure our elections are accessible, secure and safe. In the era of the COVID-19 pandemic, we should be working together to create more easy, safe options for voters to participate, not to make it harder,” said California Secretary of State Alex Padilla. “These attacks on the integrity of election serve nothing other than to undermine confidence in the election, which voters deserve to have.”